“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.”
St Paul, here, near the end of his first letter to the Thessalonians, gives this reminder – Rejoice, pray, give thanks – but always Rejoice – and we do today, for it is Gaudete Sunday, - Gaudete being Latin for rejoice – For the entrance antiphon begins – “Rejoice in the Lord always – again I say, Rejoice!” - we are over halfway through advent – Christmas is just over a week away – The rose vestments come out – a lightening of the purple of penance for our advent preparations – we look joyfully forward to Christmas, where we celebrate Christ’s birth.
Yet the word rejoice can sound hollow in the world today – The world’s stability seems less inevitable than ever – There are concerns about emissions, pollution, and the climate – conflict between nations with geopolitical struggles, economic competition, and resources used as leverage over others. – Then there are wars and rumors of wars – invasions, assaults, devastation brought to nations - civilians caught in the middle – kidnapped as hostages, put up as human shields – combatants hiding behind innocents – evil seems to be spreading around the world.
Then there are problems closer to home. - Simple truths that were once obvious are now thrown into confusion, simple questions no longer answerable – In many places, even the idea of truth is questioned, replaced with power and oppression – and as a result – us vs them. – And divisions form – there is no longer a shared vocabulary in political discourse – It seems that many refuse to be friends with others that do not share the same political views - The divisions in this nation today are deeper than perhaps any time since the Civil War 160 years ago.
The need to pray without ceasing is clear – but how amid division, chaos, and evil can follow all of what St Paul says? – “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances, give thanks” – giving thanks and rejoicing does not always look realistic.
But then there is the refrain of a well-known Advent hymn “Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel - nascetur pro te, Israel.” - Rejoice, Rejoice – Emmanual, shall come to thee, O Israel! – The hymn? O come, O come Emmanual. The refrain? A call for Israel to rejoice – For the Messiah shall come.
The hymn is based on the O Antiphons – a series of antiphons said during Evening Prayer starting tonight (tomorrow), December 17 through the 23rd – Each verse is based on one of the seven antiphons – and each antiphon for one of the titles of Christ – and these titles are pulled from across salvation history.
O Lord of Might from Exodus when Pharaoh had enslaved the Israelites in Egypt – O Root of Jesse, O key of David, O Emmanuel – all titles from the prophet Isaiah as the Assyrian empire invaded from the north putting Jerusalem under siege – the northern ten tribes going into exile - O Desire of Nations – from exile in Babylon – The Israelites conquered and removed from their homeland - no longer having their own kingdom on Earth – O Wisdom – a title from when the Lavant was controlled by the Ptolemaic Kingdom – a Greek state formed from Alexander the Great’s conquests. O Dayspring – from under the occupation of the Roman Empire
Enslaved, under siege, in exile, under the occupation of foreign empires – It is in these times that the hymn calls to Rejoice! – for rejoicing is not just in how good things are now – things were not good bad then – but the promise of God - Rejoice, Rejoice – Emmanual, shall come to thee, O Israel! – The Messiah will come – and indeed two thousand years ago born there in a manger – The son of God, the second person of the trinity – become man for our sake – The call to rejoice is not because things are good - Enslaved, under siege, in exile, foreign occupiers are not good things – but the promise and action of God! – - “Emmanual, shall come to the O Israel!”
That is something to rejoice in – and this is how St Paul can give that exhortation to the Church in Thessaloniki, a church facing persecution, has some discord and concern – but God’s promise is sure – Christ’s birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension are certain. The forgiveness of sins is sure – this we pray for, give thanks for, and something that means we should always rejoice.
Today, there might be more division than at any time since the Civil War – yet even amid the Civil War, the deadliest war in American history, a long brutal war of brother against brother - Yet there was still reason to rejoice - Henry Longfellow during the civil war wrote the well-known poem - “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” – Yet the version typically song as a hymn is missing a few verses:
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; - There was evil in the civil war – but there was also reason to give thanks, to rejoice - The promise of Christ is Sure – things may not be well – evil may be all around – but the current state of the world is not the reason for our rejoicing – but Christ and what has done and will do – something we pray for – something we give thanks for – we really can, should, and must head that exhortation of St Paul – “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks,” or, as put in the entrance antiphon - “Rejoice in the Lord always – again I say, Rejoice!” - For Christ became man for us – something we will celebrate in just over a week. – “The Lord is at hand”